


Broken

by Writing_Doodle



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen, Olympus Coliseum (Mentioned), Twilight Town, Vague angst, all i know how to write is people talking, axel kind of wants it to stay that way, nobodies - Freeform, roxas doesn'r really understand emotions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-16 05:24:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14805191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writing_Doodle/pseuds/Writing_Doodle
Summary: “I think I’m broken.”“What?”Roxas scrunched up his face and glared down at the houses and streets below them. “I said I think I’m-”“No, no, I got that.” Axel bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from smiling. It was hilarious, really. If anyone was broken here it would behim. Easily.“Just... what brought this up?”





	Broken

**Author's Note:**

> This was from a writing prompt on my tumblr so it's pretty short and not _too_ serious... 
> 
> I love writing these two so much.

“I think I’m broken.” 

Axel blinked as his brain slowly processed the quiet admission. “What?”

Roxas scrunched up his face and glared down at the houses and streets below them. “I think I’m-”

“No, no, I got that.” Axel waved away the words and bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from smiling. It was hilarious, really. If anyone was broken here it would be _him. Easily._ “Just... what brought this up?”

Roxas frowned and turned over his leftover popsicle stick. Axel’s long since broken his in half and stuffed it in his pocket, but the kid liked to keep them for some reason. “I was on a mission today and... I don’t know. It was...”

“Boring?” 

“No...” Roxas made a wordless sound of frustration as he reached for a word he didn’t know. Not for the first time Axel wondered if the kid had any latent memories that fueled these reactions, or if he just learned through observation. Either way, it was uncanny. 

“Describe the scenario.” Axel prodded, calm and mostly detached. “Words are easier than feelings.”

“It was at The Coliseum.” Roxas started, frustration already melting away into the methodical cadence of someone giving a report. “I approached Phil - he runs The Games.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ve been a few times.” 

“Oh, ok. So, I entered The Games, so I can dispatch the Heartless.” 

“Such an inefficient system.” Axel couldn’t help but quip. He’s personally never entered The Games - all of his missions involved The Underworld in one way or another - but the idea of having to deal with that sort of bureaucratic bullshit just to kill some Heartless made his skin crawl. Old shattered notions of rebellion resurfaced in a way he could only sigh at. 

Roxas was blissfully unaware of the bone-deep weariness of his partner/glorified babysitter. Roxas was blissfully unaware of a lot of things. He was currently scowling at Axel in a way that distantly reminded him of a toddler who just learned that that face meant something. “Can I continue without you interrupting me?”

Axel sighed melodramatically. “Fine, fine. Proceed.”

“I approached him to sign in my name and- He’s done this a lot, but I only just realized it. Right before I approach him, he looks at me and for a second he just... He looks so sad.” Roxas furrowed his brows and stared down. “I don’t know why.”

Axel twisted his mouth in a vague sense of pity. Of course Roxas really wouldn’t understand. Hell, Axel was surprised the kid was able to properly recognize emotion in another person. Axel examined the boy sitting next to him and he thought back to the few missions he’s done in The Underworld. They really did look like ghosts, didn’t they? 

“There probably isn’t a real reason why.” Axel said slowly, carefully. “Humans, whatever Phil is - any creature with a heart... sometimes they do things for no reason.”

“Everything is so complicated and sometimes I feel like I don’t know anything.” 

_Because you don’t._ Axel bit his tongue. 

Roxas continued. “Am I... broken? For not understanding?”

“No.” That was easy enough to answer. “Given your... condition, it’s expected. On top of not having a heart, you don’t have memories of what it’s like. Asking you to understand things involving humans is like asking a dog to fetch the paper. Sure, it can happen, but you can’t just... _expect it_ , y’know?”

“No.” Roxas’ eyes were so big and so empty and Axel hated how brutally honest he could be sometimes. 

“Well, that’s fine.” Axel scratched his neck and thought of something else he could say. “You say that everything seems complicated, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, is life in the Organization complicated to you?”

“No. That’s easy. I wake up, get a mission, and do it.” Roxas frowned. “It just gets confusing when I’m on other worlds.”

Axel snapped his fingers. “See? That’s the problem.”

“I don’t... understand.”

“Life isn’t complicated. If you break it down, it’s actually very simple. Having a heart, though... _that’s_ what makes life complicated. It’s only natural for you - for _us_ \- to feel out of the loop. Or broken, whatever.” Axel rolled his eyes and waved his hand dismissively. “What I’m trying to say is this: don’t think about it too much. It’s just how things are. You don’t have to worry about what those with hearts think and do. You can’t even worry, anyway.” 

Roxas mulled this over. He stared into the sunset for so long that Axel was beginning to think he was gone. Then he turned his head towards him and smiled, “Thank you.”

If Axel had a heart, he wouldn’t be sure if it would break or not. He pushed back foggy memories of _guilt_ and _shame_ and forced himself to smile back. “Sure, no problem, kid.”

**Author's Note:**

> Don't forget to comment! :D I like to know what y'all think!


End file.
